March 31, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s track and field teams are set for the Mike Poehlein Invitational Friday and Saturday in West Lafayette, Ind. The hammer throw leads off the meet and begins at 3:00 p.m. (ET) and is the only scheduled event on Friday.
The discus throw and javelin throw are scheduled for Saturday and begin at 10:00 a.m. to lead off the field events, while the women’s 10,000-meter run begins at 11:00 a.m. and commences the running events for the day.
Set to compete in the hammer throw Friday includes Mason Bashaw (Houston, Texas/Kincaid), Vivien Devaney (San Luis Obispo, Calif./San Luis Obispo) and Madeline Casanova (Simi Valley, Calif./Alemany) on the women’s side and Anthony Thomas (Roosevelt, N.Y./Holy Trinity), Mike Smigelski (Mequon, Wis./Homestead), Mitchell Gormley (Lawrenceville, Ga./Brookwood), John Belcher (Cheyenne, Wyo./Cheyenne Central), Greg Davis (Peachtree, Ga./Starr’s Mill) and Andrew Hills (Toledo, Ohio/St. John’s Jesuit) on the men’s team.
The Irish enter the weekend after competing in a trio of meets last weekend. At the Alabama Relays senior Justin Schneider (Atlanta, Ga./Greater Atlanta Christian) finished the decathlon in second place with 6,909 points and junior Maddie Buttinger (Waterloo, Ontario/Resurrection C.C.S.) placed third in the pentathlon with 3,035 points.
Senior Kevin Schipper (Leo, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) was the first-place finisher in the pole vault at the Arizona State Invitational where the BIG EAST Men’s Field Athlete of the Week cleared 5.20m, which is currently the best height in the conference and fourth-best performance in the nation.
Sophomore Jeremy Rae (Fort Erie, Ontario/Lakeshore Catholic), who was named this weekend BIG EAST Men’s Track Athlete of the Week, notched a second-place finish in the 1,500-meter run in 3:44.09. Rae’s time is a personal best and is .32 seconds ahead of UTEP’s Elkana Rotich for the best collegiate time in the country this season.
Live results of the Mike Poehlein Invitational will be available shortly before 3:00 p.m. Friday and there will be full results and recap following each day of competition.
–ND–